"In the desert, we grow nothing but grudges and harvest nothing but blood."

Shamon, First Kazekage of Sunagakure, upon defeating the last rival claimant to his title.

-O-

The second mission was even worse than the first.

Team Seven were dressed as traders. That meant long, stuffy clothes that Sasuke couldn't move in properly. They'd been travelling with a caravan to Wind Country for several days now. Sasuke still had no idea what they were supposed to be there for. At least the outpost resupply had clearly defined objectives. It had also been nice to travel faster than the slowest wagon in the slowest convoy in the whole of Fire Country.

Sasuke did his best to swallow his anger as he trudged along next to a foul-smelling donkey. The forced inactivity was starting to wear him down physically as well as mentally – he wanted to run, to jump, to push his body. Rather than blow his cover, he turned his mind inwards, focusing on some meditation exercises he'd memorised before leaving Konoha. They were supposed to increase his spiritual chakra reserves.

Deep breaths, let go of the present and just exist in the moment. Don't do anything, and don't try to exert your will. Huffing, Sasuke gave up. The required mindset went against everything he wanted to achieve, even though he knew it would help him become stronger. The greatest monks were equal to jounin in some ways, as they had vast stores of chakra built up by decades of enlightenment. If he could grab a quick and easy advantage by mimicking them a little, it would be worth it.

Happy, calm thoughts… here we go… I just have to rephrase everything…

Long hot summer days made for wonderful travelling. They'd left Konoha's forests behind several days ago and were now in the middle of a huge sea of waist-high grass, with hills gently undulating towards the horizon. When he stood up on Kakashi's cart, he could see for miles and miles. Other than the sounds of the other travellers, only the faint cries of birds circling high above could be heard. Above all, it was peaceful.

Sasuke walked on for about half a minute. He was at peace with the world, utterly serene, existing in harmony with nature. Then he coughed on the thick dust in the air, and his calm shattered.

It was everywhere, rising in reddish-brown clouds from the wheels of the wagons in front. Since he was walking almost at the back of the group, it was particularly pervasive, filling his mouth and nostrils with the taste of the earth.

When he next got the chance, he was going to take a long, long bath and wash all the fine grit out of his hair. Sasuke was pathetically grateful to Naruto for lending him a pair of goggles, but refused to admit it.

The sun climbed higher into the sky. Sasuke glared at it. He was already starting to sweat and it wasn't even noon yet.

At the start of the mission, Sakura had been in charge of the second wagon Kakashi had bought. Sasuke had been ordered to switch with her after the first day.

"I'd rather pull my own hair out, strand by strand, than listen to your bickering for one more second," Kakashi had explained. Sasuke assumed he'd been referring to Naruto's constant silly complaints rather than his own reasonable replies.

As if summoned by the memory, Naruto came over from the larger wagon, which was rolling along twenty paces further down the road. Please don't talk to me, please don't talk to me… Sasuke silently pleaded.

"Hello, Sasuke! How are you doing?" Naruto was as upbeat as ever. Sasuke thought the red-and-green striped handkerchief slung over Naruto's face made him look like the villain from a low-class play. He bit back a stinging comment and grunted instead.

"Old man Tatame told me to cover my face with a cloth to keep the dust out!" Naruto said. Sasuke scowled, wishing he'd thought of that on his own. He wasn't going to eat dirt for the whole trip just to avoid copying Naruto, however. He rummaged in his pack for a few seconds before he found a square cloth. It was the work of a few seconds to fold it into a triangle and tie it over his face.

"Kakashi says we're carrying out the main goal of the mission tonight. Short version is that we're delaying one of the other merchants at the border with the Land of Wind by sneaking some contraband into his cargo. Kakashi's going to tip off the border guards tonight so they know where to look tomorrow, and he'll be held for a few days. It's so that a rival merchant can beat him to Sunagakure and make a lot of profit, apparently.

"Anyway, you'll be working with me and Sakura to smuggle the contraband into his wagons. We're planning it out this evening and doing the deed tonight."

"Right," Sasuke said. He deliberately turned back towards his donkey's rear, hoping to enjoy the (relative) solitude again. The silence had been wonderful so far – he'd spoken less than ten words today.

"Hey, Watanabe!" Naruto turned and called to another of the traders. "Is it time for lunch yet?"

Trust Naruto to make friends with absolutely everyone. Sasuke hadn't talked to any of the other merchants or travellers, and he'd overheard two of them gossiping about whether or not he was mute. Sakura had also taken Kakashi's advice about keeping a low profile to heart. Naruto, on the other hand, knew the names of all twenty-odd people, and spent most of the day going from wagon to wagon and chatting.

At least it meant he wasn't bothering Sasuke.

And other than steering the cart, Sasuke could gaze at the fields or sky as much as he wanted. Which was not at all. He hadn't expected to miss Konoha so much, but the outside world seemed incredibly dull in comparison.

He pushed his feelings down and slouched a little as he strolled onward. I wonder what Ino's doing right now? Loud laughter broke him out of his daydreams as Naruto came running past, chasing some random girl from another cart. It seemed they were both having a great time, although Sasuke doubted Naruto was smart enough to realise the girl wanted to be caught.

-O-

Sakura really enjoyed the team atmosphere during meals, possibly because Naruto would eat with one or another of the trader families. The rest of Team Seven were once again enjoying a companionable silence. It was relaxing in a way that trudging over baked earth or rattling along in a rickety wagon could never be.

She yawned, the midday heat making her tired. Since there weren't any trees to block the sun, it was warmer out on the plains than Sakura was accustomed to.

She'd run out of new things to say after just a few hours on the road, and Kakashi had been quiet since they'd set off. Not that that's unusual for him. Sasuke had calmed down now that he was left on his own, which was good, kind of. She was definitely glad he was feeling better, but she wished he was a bit friendlier. Sakura still hoped that she'd really connect with him some day. Right now, though, it seemed he didn't want to open up.

It was interesting, however, to see Naruto make friends for once. He didn't really get on with anyone in Konoha, although it seemed to be mutual from what she could tell. It was probably because of all the mischief he'd done as a kid.

Maybe the villagers didn't have a sense of humour? That thing with the feathers, red paint, indoor fireworks and complete set of ninja theory books had been amazingly creative and Iruka's face had been marvellous, even if a whole lesson had had to be cancelled due to the cleanup.

She looked two wagons over to where Naruto was talking and eating at the same time. Somehow, it wasn't bothering the elderly couple sharing their food with him – Sakura could see their smiles from here. She finished her own meal of rice and pickled vegetables and lay back in the grass. Kakashi was still eating slowly next to her, slipping food between the bandages over the lower half of his face. He still hadn't let anyone see his chin.

"I had an unfortunate shaving accident that's still healing," he'd told the few people who'd dared ask him about it. They'd looked dubious but nobody had challenged him.

Sakura shouldn't have been surprised that he had a variety of disguises for his face – and she wasn't, really – but she'd been looking forward to discovering what was under Kakashi's mask. Maybe in the future, she decided.

Sasuke shook her awake just as the first carts were rumbling into motion. After shaking off her disorientation, she mumbled some thanks to Sasuke and slid into her seat, ears burning. That she'd dreamed of him definitely didn't help.

Sasuke went back to his own cart, which was ready to set off, and she was unusually grateful for his silence.

Sakura hadn't been sleeping well lately, but she hadn't thought she was tired enough to fall asleep during the day. At the start of the mission, she'd thought she could handle it; but slowly, torturously slowly, the pressure was building. Every second felt like it could ruin her cover story, and she'd be the reason everything went wrong. By now, doubt had taken its toll; her confidence was in tatters. She pulled her hands back from where they'd crept, unbidden, to the knives hidden in her dress.

Her palms were damp with sweat and her back was straight with the tension running through her. Did she look too nervous? She tried slouching forward a little, but that was just plain uncomfortable and felt forced. Nonchalance was hard. She was reaching for her knives again, she realised.

"So." Kakashi interrupted her thoughts without looking up from his book. Sakura had noticed within two minutes of him pulling it out that it was not, in fact, a cookbook. Pleasures of the flesh also had nothing to do with fruit – except for chapter seven, of course… At least it would be funny when Sasuke and Naruto realised they'd been tricked. At first, she'd tried to ignore Kakashi's choice of reading material, but after several hours of nothing to do, even pointless smut was entertaining enough to hold her attention.

What made it worse was that he knew she was reading over his shoulder – he was a jounin, there was no way he didn't know – and she knew he knew, and he knew she knew he knew, and… but she refused to go any deeper. Mind games with Kakashi required a certain kind of madness, and if you didn't have it to start with, he could do some real damage. Sakura had met Guy once. Apparently, he'd once been a normal jounin who'd repeatedly challenged Kakashi and lost.

She'd not replied yet. Sakura knew from experience that Kakashi would wait as long as it took for her to say something. He was really prickly when it came to status games like that, despite his relaxed exterior. "What?" There, that was nice and non-specific.

"Neither of us wants to do this, but it's necessary. Let's talk about what happened when your ear was injured." Kakashi's single visible eye was still fixed on his book, but Sakura felt his attention shift onto her. Despite having most of his face hidden by bandages, he looked relaxed and at ease. She… didn't.

Shit. Maybe if I just stay quiet… Sakura breathed out and unclenched her fists. When had they balled up again? She couldn't afford to show that sort of emotion while she was undercover. That must be why Kakashi picked now to talk about it. Stupid prick. There was comfort to be found in crude language, but she'd never used it out loud. Sometimes she felt like two different people sharing a single body.

"I know you're listening, so I'll just read out loud until you're ready to talk. 'Tatomi gently pressed her heaving bosom against–'"

"–Fine." Sakura made sure she went through a few rude gestures at Kakashi before carefully folding her hands in her lap. She took a deep breath, trying and failing to centre herself. "What specifically do you want to talk about?"

"You're not the girl who froze up and took a knife to the face. Look at yourself – you're competent, calm, collected. Well, relatively. Despite being injured on your first mission, you're not noticeably traumatised. Compare that to the girl who went on her first C-rank a month ago. You could have killed every prisoner in that group, with only a kunai. Any genin could have. They were bound and mostly unarmed."

Sakura wondered if he expected an answer. As the silence dragged on, she prepared to say something, anything, and just as she opened her mouth to speak, he continued.

"So I want to know. What happened back then?" Kakashi's expression hadn't changed at all, and he was still staring at his book with his uncovered eye.

Sakura drank from her flask to buy a moment to gather her thoughts. "I was naive. I lacked the paranoia that keeps us ninja alive. I thought I was safe, and took an unnecessary risk. And I learned the hard way what a bad idea that is. I won't ever make the same mistake again." Sakura touched her ruined ear; it had started as a way to cope with nerves, but now it was just another habit.

"All it took was a flower by the roadside to distract you. But you're wrong, you know." Kakashi blinked once, slowly, then reached out and plucked a long stalk of grass from next to the road. He slipped the stem through the bandages on his face and bit down on it. The other end twitched back and forth as he turned a page.

That was all it had taken, yes. There weren't many flowers growing in the forest, and Sakura had been curious. A poster for the flower shop had a picture of a similar plant, advertising its delightful scent. And so – for a split second – Sakura had been an almost fifteen-year-old girl rather than a genin of Konohagakure, and her guard had been down. And she'd paid for it.

But what did Kakashi mean? I'm wrong?

Kakashi responded to her quizzical glance. "It messed you up. You don't sleep well, and you make mistakes. You shouldn't have fallen asleep earlier – sure, it makes your cover deeper, but you're not at risk of being discovered. It's an unnecessary risk, and you're so obsessed with avoiding them that it's blinded you."

"It wasn't a risk – it was the opposite of a risk! You're a jounin, so I'm safer sleeping next to you than on my own… oh. What should I do?" Sakura hated being helpless, but even worse than that was staying helpless. Kakashi pointing out things that she should have noticed on her own wasn't fun either. Unfortunately, he had a point. She didn't feel safe sleeping on her own.

"Don't worry about this mission. While I'm there, I can keep an eye on you. When we get back, go and talk to someone about it – your parents might not be the best choice, but if you feel comfortable with them it can work. A friend or someone else you trust is probably the best option." Kakashi nodded to himself, then subtly tilted the book so Sakura could see it better. It was a pretty clear message that the conversation was over.

How useless. Sakura had already talked to Iruka, and this was how she was doing afterwards. Kakashi had some serious strengths, but mental health wasn't one of them. He was much better at causing problems than fixing them. The thing that would help her the most was getting strong, and starting to build a future with Sasuke.

-O-

Naruto grinned as he walked over towards Morato's tent, a huge pale thing in the moonlight. The trader owned a full half of all the goods in the caravan, but he was a massive tool, always ordering people about and sneering at them. This would be like one of Naruto's classic pranks.

In one hand he carried a large glass bottle, and in the other was a bag with some snacks and a small knife hidden at the bottom. He added a bit of swagger to his steps as he got closer to the small fire in the darkness ahead.

"Hey Masaharu, Kiho! How've you been doing?" The two guards sat in front of the circle of carts, watching the flames. A spear leant casually next to the tall blond man – Masaharu – while Kiho had a short sword belted to her waist.

"Sorry, Naruto, we can't hang tonight. Gotta look after the big man's stuff, ya know?" Masaharu said. Kiho nodded, her short dark hair flopping about. She pulled a cigarette out of a pouch and lit it on the burning end of a branch from the fire. Naruto wasn't too discouraged. He'd built a decent rapport with both of them, despite the four-year age gap. And besides, he wasn't trying to lure them away from their posts.

Naruto waved the bottle at them as he sat down next to Kiho, making sure to leave some space. She didn't like him as much, and he wanted to avoid being confrontational. "Yeah, yeah, he's got lots of money and stuff. Tell me something I don't know. But surely he can't object to me keeping you company? Extra set of eyes, and all that?" He grinned widely as he shook the bottle again, the contents sloshing noisily.

The two guards shared a quick look, then Kiho shrugged. Jackpot. If she didn't object, then Masaharu would definitely be on board. Naruto uncorked the bottle and took a quick swig, sputtering as the alcohol burned his mouth and throat. He passed it along with a grimace as they laughed at him. "First time with a real drink for the young boy, eh?" Masaharu grinned. Naruto gave him the finger.

He actually felt like cheering, and maybe dancing a little, at his success. When he'd volunteered for the hardest part of the job, he'd thought Kakashi would pass him over in favour of Sasuke. Finding out that he just had to occupy the guards was a bit of a let-down, but then again, it was also really fun. Kakashi had even trusted him with some alcohol, although Naruto knew if he actually got drunk there'd be hell to pay.

Kakashi's general laziness just meant he was even more terrifying when something forced his serious side out.

As the three of them chatted quietly around the fire, occasionally laughing and nudging each other, Naruto felt a slight sense of shame at taking advantage of their friendliness. Then again, Team Seven weren't going to steal anything, so he wasn't exactly breaking their trust as such, just misleading them.

The bottle lasted barely half an hour. Masaharu pulled a jug of wine out that he'd been saving, face very red in the firelight, and Kiho cheered. Naruto stumbled to his feet, muttering about taking a leak, then walked a short distance into the grass. He tripped slightly and swore, before finding the spot.

"Sasuke," he hissed. "They're pretty drunk, you and Sakura can go in now."

"Okay." The bastard had basically ignored him for the whole mission, but now he'd be depending on Naruto's skill to keep the guards occupied. Take that, you lousy git!

"What the fuck are you doing?" Sasuke was still whispering, but he'd become really angry all of a sudden. Naruto turned towards him, then remembered himself halfway through, and kept urinating forwards. "Needing to pee was supposed to be your cover story, remember? You almost splashed me just now."

"I had a lot to drink," Naruto explained with a straight face. Business done, he went back to the fire and the guards, a big grin on his face.

Masaharu was teasing Kiho about her boyfriend, whom she'd left back home. She, in turn, was threatening to castrate Masaharu if he didn't shut up. Naruto did his best to defuse the tension. "I didn't know you had a boy-toy? What's he like, is he a guard too?"

"Nah, he's a Suna ninja. Actually–" Masaharu cut Kiho off with a shorthand motion.

"Someone's there."

Heart hammering, Naruto butted in. "How can you tell? I can't hear anything except the wind." He had heard Sakura brush against the edge of a wagon, but that should have been inaudible for civilians.

And that meant they weren't civilians.

Naruto tried to look calm as sick dread welled up in his belly and climbed into his throat. He casually picked up his bag, ready to take out his knife, and desperately hoping it wouldn't be necessary.

"Appearances can be deceiving, you know," Masaharu said, and for a split second Naruto thought he'd been uncovered. "It might impress you to know that we're actually two of Sunagakure's finest."

He leant heavily on his spear, clearly drunk. Kiho turned towards where the sound had come from, eyes narrowed. Naruto winced as he heard a quiet thud from the circle of carts. Both guards had pulled out Sand headbands and were affixing them. He frantically tried to think of some way to avert the coming disaster. Despite the situation, and despite the way his hand was slowly reaching for the knife, he couldn't help but feel like they'd betrayed him.

"I definitely heard something that time," Kiho said, standing and stretching. "Probably just thieves, though. Let's go catch them."

"You're ninja, really? W-wow, that must really be something," Naruto stuttered. What was he going to do now? They were already heading towards his team-mates, carrying a torch along with them. If they got close enough, his team was screwed. Not only are they ninja, but chunin as well, if they're operating alone outside Wind Country.

Of course Kakashi hadn't done his job properly. Lazy asshole. Kakashi should have paid attention instead of reading his recipe books all the time, and then he would have been able to warn them. The whole situation could have been avoided. Instead, he'd just said that Morato wouldn't be carrying around enough goods to be worth paying ninja guards, and told Team Seven to handle things on their own.

"Hey, guys, it's probably just someone being an idiot and playing around. Let's just make sure they didn't take anything and let them off with a warning, yeah?" Naruto whispered. It would be tough to talk their way out of this, but if Sasuke and Sakura played along, it could work. Since neither of them would have any stolen goods, the Suna-nin might just let them go.

Masaharu looked torn for a second, and then nodded. "If nothing's missing then I suppose there's no need for us to make a fuss. It's probably best if no-one knows we were drinking tonight, anyway."

Naruto almost sagged in relief. He followed the pair of ninja, taking care to stumble over the bottle they'd emptied already. That should warn Sakura and Sasuke, but just to make sure… "Hey guys, wait for me!" he called.

Masaharu and Kiho both turned and motioned for him to stay back. "They could be armed," Kiho warned. Naruto nodded and moved as if to return to the fire, then slunk into the shadows and tailed them.

The Suna ninja crept over to a shallow depression in the grass, where the stalks had recently been flattened. Naruto knew it was the route Sasuke and Sakura must have taken. The odds of someone else also sneaking into the wagons at the same time were negligible.

Masaharu pointed his spear at the gap between the wagons where the trail ended. The steel tip was edged in shining silver. Opposite Naruto, blending into the shadows of the carts, Kiho loosely gripped her short-sword in her right hand. It was slightly curved, although Naruto struggled to make out any details in the poor light.

"I reckon-"

And that was when Sasuke dropped down from the top of the cart, rolling forward into an overhead axe kick that broke Masaharu's collarbone with a loud cracking sound. His spear fell from his twitching fingers, and his right arm hung uselessly at his side, but Masaharu swiftly drew a kunai with his left hand. Sasuke was already moving, lashing out with a series of quick and sweeping knife attacks. He drove Masaharu back and landed a few shallow cuts, barely staying ahead of his opponent's weapon. Naruto froze, watching the two ninja dance silently in the waist-high grass.

And then Kiho turned to Sasuke's unprotected back. Before Naruto could interfere, they both heard a whisper of cloth against wood from a gap in the carts. Kiho whirled and struck on instinct alone. Naruto didn't even get a chance to cry out before her short-sword lanced into Sakura's face.

It went up to the hilt, and didn't stop there, her whole hand piercing through Sakura's head.

Then the illusion dispersed into grey wisps of chakra-laden smoke. The real Sakura was about two paces behind her clone, completely unharmed and absolutely furious as she threw herself forward. There was a moment of confusion – blades, fists, narrow misses and the sickening thud of a kick breaking something.

Sakura hit the side of the cart. She clutched her ribs and spat blood and saliva at her foe's feet. Kiho had somehow lost her sword, but she looked more than capable of wringing Sakura's neck with her bare hands. The two kunoichi faced off with matching snarls, neither willing to back down.

Naruto's heart hammered on in his chest – he'd thought Sakura was dead, he'd seen her head split open like an overripe grape. Five minutes ago, he'd been drinking and joking with Kiho, who had just tried to kill his teammate. His breathing was loud enough that he could hear it even over the roaring in his ears. He dimly realised he was in shock, and forced himself to move.

His knife felt heavy in his hand, the rough grip and slightly pitted metal ring barely rubbing against his skin. He could hear cloth rustle behind him as Sasuke and Masaharu traded blows. Below him, grass whipped at his legs as he darted forward, the dirt underneath firm and unyielding. And he could taste acrid fear in the back of his mouth.

A handseal, a thought, a burst of chakra and then a pair of shadow clones rushed at Kiho from both directions. Her face twisted into anger at the betrayal before she smoothed her features and demolished both clones with powerful punches. She charged him, slipping under a fistful of thrown shuriken and ploughing through the clones he'd hastily thrown out.

When the smoke cleared, she was gone, and there was an extra shadow clone with his face. It took a split second for Naruto to realise what had happened.

Kiho had transformed herself into him, and in the dim moonlight, he couldn't tell her apart from his clones. He grit his teeth in frustration and ended the technique. Two clones disappeared and the had a brief second to realise that he'd just revealed himself to be the real Naruto. Then the last copy pounced on him, hands balled into fists.

He backpedalled, dodging and blocking as best he could, but he took a heavy blow across the face that sprawled him out on the ground. Kiho leant over him, face dark with fury. Naruto couldn't block her second punch in time, and his teeth rattled as his head snapped back. She pulled back for a third blow, and he watched her fist through a haze of blood and pain and confusion – and she coughed a fine mist of blood, spraying out all over Naruto's face.

As she slumped backwards, he could barely make out the tip of a sword protruding from her chest. And suddenly he noticed Sakura, standing over the body, firmly holding the short blade she'd taken off Kiho earlier.

Sakura was smiling.

"I'm fine on my own," Sasuke hissed, clearly torn between trying to avoid alerting the nearby camp and getting his team's attention. "No need for any help, it's not like he's a chunin or anything."

Naruto ran over, head still spinning slightly. Masaharu could only use one arm, but he was faster and stronger than Sasuke. He'd picked up some more light injuries, but Sasuke was visibly tiring and couldn't keep up much longer. Their blades swung again, Masaharu leaping forward and Sasuke heaving himself back and out of the way before countering with a stab to the face that barely missed.

Sakura threw a kunai that distracted Masaharu for a split second, and Naruto threw himself into a flying kick from the side. Masaharu spun out of the way, perfectly dodging the kick… and walked face-first into Sasuke's fist.

He collapsed, sprawling across the flattened grass and slowly staining it red. Sakura scrambled to tie him up, using loop after loop of ninja wire to make sure that he couldn't get free.

"What happened in there?" Naruto asked, voice warbling between a whisper and a shriek. "This was supposed to be clean, quick and quiet. You didn't even give me a chance to talk us out of it before attacking!"

Sakura didn't say anything, didn't look at him. Sasuke's eyes were darker than the night around them. "There were people in the wagons, Naruto. That's why Morato paid for ninja guards. He's smuggling slaves into the Land of Wind."

-O-

Kakashi took that as his cue to step out of the shadows.

His team reflexively drew weapons again, before they recognised him and relaxed.

"Where the fuck were you?" Sakura hissed.

Well, mostly relaxed, Kakashi thought. But that was probably the wrong thing to say. "Now, now, let's all calm down a bit. There's no need to get worked up–"

"–There's slaves in there," Sasuke said, his flat and emotionless voice more worrying than Sakura's obvious outrage.

Naruto cleared his throat. "What are we going to do about them? And also, we have a prisoner." He tilted his head towards Masaharu's trussed up body.

Kakashi took a moment to think, wordlessly shushing Sasuke when he tried to interrupt. Something had to be done, that much was certain.

"Here's the new plan. You three are going to follow a guide and get out of here, and I'll tidy everything up. You've dealt with a complication as well as could be expected, but this is a jounin-level problem now. I'll fill you in on everything after I catch up in a few hours."

They looked more than happy to leave it to him, and he didn't blame them. For their second mission outside Konoha to go so wrong was terrible luck, but none of them had been seriously hurt or killed.

Not that that had been likely. He'd been watching since Naruto first joined the guards at the fire. A little bit of combat practice would do them a lot of good, he'd thought. After seeing them fight, Kakashi was now seriously considering entering them for the Chunin Exams.

Then again, he'd seen Sakura take down Kiho. She'd enjoyed killing slightly too much. That sort of thing would stain her, he knew from experience. In some ways, it was a worse injury than a merely physical wound. He was certain that he and Sakura would need another little chat later on.

But that would have to wait. A quick set of handseals, and Pakkun sat in front of him, squashed nose sniffing the air curiously. "Take these three towards the Hairuja Forest. If there are other Konoha teams nearby, join them. I'll be along shortly."

Pakkun nodded and set off. The three genin stared at his ambling form before Kakashi made a quick shooing gesture that sent them following after the pug.

Alone now, Kakashi got to work. A shadow clone that immediately dispelled itself passed some key information on. The copy of himself that was currently approaching the border outpost should be aware of the new plan, and all that was left for him to do was prepare the scene for when the patrol arrived.

The living Suna ninja had seen and heard too much. It was regrettable, but Kakashi wouldn't risk any danger to Konoha or his team if he could avoid it. If Suna found out that Kakashi's team had killed one of their own, it would have serious long-term repercussions. They simply weren't strong enough to handle that international pressure. Yet.

Kakashi cut the man's throat, watching the blood drain out and not feeling anything.

He prepared the macabre scene with the two corpses available. Three would have been better, but he could make do. He'd seen – and been in – enough ninja fights to forge a believable battle to the death.

In the end, it was easier to make it look like a lover's quarrel than anything else, so he carefully loosened some clothes and added a few lipstick smears to the man. A sprinkling of a minor hallucinogenic that occasionally caused heightened aggression as a side-effect and nobody would look too closely. Border guards and the associated patrols were mostly concerned with stopping smugglers and making sure taxes got paid. They wouldn't be looking underneath the underneath.

And by the time that Suna tried to find out what had happened to their ninja, the trail would be beyond cold.

The next part was quite straightforward. Kakashi broke a hole in the side of one of the carts that held the slaves. They were bound and gagged so that they wouldn't make any noise, and the smell was dreadful – a mixture of human waste, unwashed bodies and putrid sweetness from untreated infections. Luckily, they were all asleep. When he saw that they were mostly children, Kakashi had to fight down an urge to slowly, ever so slowly torture Morato to death.

He could do it, he knew, but it would make this next part substantially harder. Normally, he tried to avoid extra bloodshed, but for this he would make an exception.

Kakashi added some finishing touches to the scene, then stepped back and screamed at the top of his voice. After a few seconds, he screamed again, although by then there were already people running towards him.

Morato was the first to arrive, since Kakashi was standing outside his circle of wagons, and he took great pleasure in laying the merchant out with a single blow. Hands grabbed him, holding him back, but he just nodded towards the hole in the wagon.

The other traders stopped restraining him once they saw what cargo Morato was carrying. One or two spat on the fallen man; others kicked at him.

And then Kakashi moved on to the next part of his act. "I came because my niece and nephews were missing, and I heard noises. The two guards were fighting, but my family must have seen the inside of the wagon and run away. I don't know where they've gone, but I've got to find them.

"Saze, you're a good man. Please take our carts to the border outpost and leave them there if I'm not back before the convoy moves on. It's not far now, but I need to go after my family. They're all I have left." It was easy enough for Kakashi to sob like a broken man. That probably said something about him.

After all, cover stories tended to work best with a kernel of truth.

Saze nodded, still mostly in a daze, and Kakashi was satisfied that his part here was done. He poked around the grass for a few seconds, making a big show of trying to find tracks, before following the trail that his team had left. Behind him, the voices of the various travellers in the caravan were growing louder as they discussed Morato's fate. In an hour or so, a patrol would come and take over the scene. The merchants would move on. And in a decade few people would remember what had happened.

But Morato wouldn't be moving more cargo. Never again. Kakashi smiled under his mask. It was rare that he got the chance to do unambiguous good.

The run through the darkness was a welcome chance to work off some adrenaline. Few things made Kakashi feel as alive as a ninja mission gone wrong.

He was impressed by his team's speed. They were almost at the forest's edge when he caught up with them. Rather than announcing himself right away, he shadowed them for a few minutes, trying to gauge their moods. Pakkun noticed him, of course, but he also knew better than to give his master's position away.

After five minutes of silence, Kakashi dropped down next to them. They were a little ways into the forest by now, and all too glad to take a short break after the distance they'd covered.

Kakashi gave them a broad outline of what he'd done to cover the team's tracks. When they didn't return, their carts would go to the border. They'd pick them up in a few days, after the caravan was gone again, and hire someone to take them back to Konoha.

The mission was essentially over, and they had a few days to train in the forest. While Kakashi hadn't exactly expected cheering, the continued silence was starting to wear on him. "Any questions?" he prompted.

"What happened to Masaharu?" Naruto asked. He'd been the only one to get to know the Suna guards, Kakashi recalled.

"He slipped his bonds and attacked me. I was forced to kill him." The lie came easily. It was better for the genin not to know some things. They were still – despite the dried blood covering them – not ready to see the ugly face of necessity.

"Good." That came from Sakura. "Naruto, you didn't see what the inside of that cart was like. They deserved it. Both of them. Ten times over."

"They didn't know about it!" Naruto leapt to the defence of the two dead ninja. "…Did they, Kakashi? Know, I mean?" His voice broke on the last word.

"If they knew and didn't turn Morato in, then it was a direct order from the Kazekage. But Suna has much better ways of smuggling contraband into their village. So no, they probably didn't know."

"They still helped it happen," Sasuke said.

Naruto was crying, big slow tears rolling down his face. "And what if we're in their shoes one day, Sasuke? We take on a mission where we guard something, and later it turns out that something was – a kidnapped child, or – bad drugs, like really awful, or something."

They were all silent for a moment, and then Naruto spoke again. "She had a boyfriend in Suna. He'll never know what happened to her. You did what you had to do, Sakura. I don't blame you. We helped all those poor captured people, which is good and important. But, I wish… I wish there'd been another way – a better way."

Kakashi wished that too.